Immolation
by souledge-master1
Summary: The Land of Boletaria has been enveloped by the Fog. Many great warriors have gone to save the land, but none have returned. when an Elemental knight named Soul is sent by his organization to save the land? Or have the Demon's found a new slave?
1. Into the Fog

Cold and Damp. Those were the only words Soul could think of as he walked through the Fog. He could already feel the effects of the Deep Fog on him, the draining feeling on his mind and soul.

"So...the rumors were true" Soul thinks as he walks down the dirt path toward the border of the Kingdom of Boletaria, His armor glossy from the moisture of the fog, his long sword strapped to his side and a shield strapped to his back. Already he could see the thick wall of Fog ahead of him, visible even through the fog already surrounding him, extending in off into the distance. "I don't know what the Council expects me to be able to do." Soul muses as he stares up at the wall of Fog. "Burn my way through it?" He stops in his tracks, thinking back to to the meeting with the Council months ago, detailing to him what they called his greatest mission yet.

In the Inner Sanctum of the Temple of God, Soul stands across a stone table from a tall pale Elemental with golden eyes. This man is Algol Lumiere, the head of the Council in charge of all Elemental affairs.

"This is your greatest mission yet, Soul." Algol usually doesn't involve himself in giving out missions to knights, so his particular interest to this mission to make him appear in person, is more then enough to keep Soul's attention during the debriefing. "I am certain you have heard of the rumors surrounding the kingdoms of Boletaria about the mysterious fog that has surrounded it and the surrounding kingdom for years. I am also certain that you have heard the stories that the Knight Vallerfax of the Twin Fangs has told of the kingdom. However, let me refresh your memory." Algol clears his throat before he pulls opens a map of the kingdom across the table.

"The current ruler of the Northern Kingdom of Boletaria, King Allant the Twelfth, had rediscovered the Soul Arts, a form of magic that uses souls as a power that long ago been banned by an unknown group of warriors, and has sense been lost. It is some time after that the Fog appeared, enclosing the lands from the rest of the known world for several years now. Many warriors have attempted to find what has happened to the land, but none have returned. It is only recently that one man has broken through from the inside, Vallerfax, and the tales he tells are most disturbing." Algol looks at Soul, his eyes clouded with worry.

"According to the knight, King Allant has mistakenly awoken the Old One, the First Demon, and that this fog that has swept across his land released countless demons, thirsty for human souls. The Fog itself seems to drain the soul from the humans as many seem to have joined the demons in their rampage, killing friend and kin to steal their souls for their own malicious purposes. Worse yet, the Fog seems to be slowly spreading to other lands, allowing the reach of the demons to extend." Algol turns and faces the bare wall behind him, hands clasped behind his back. "It is our duty as God's protectors to wipe out this Scourge of Demons before it consumes all of man...That...is where you come in Soul." Algol turns, a small, fake looking smile adorning him. " The Council orders you to go and succeed where the humans failed. You must end this Scourge against God, before it destroys our world!"

Soul sighs, cursing his superior. " One Elemental against hordes of madmen and demons..." Soul shakes his head, clearing his thoughts. He knows it is his duty as an Elemental to sacrifice everything to protect the humans of this world. "Fine then." Soul says, his voice shattering the silence of the fog. "If Death shall claim me this day, let it be said that I died in battle instead of running like a coward." Soul walks toward the Fog, fire covering one of his hands as he prepares to burn his way through. "Brave one who fears not Death.." A strange, yet calming voice echoes throughout the surrounding area and seemingly in his head as well. Soul pauses, eyes darting around quickly, searching for the owner of the voice, but sees no one. "I shall guide you to the Nexus, so that you may send the Old One back into slumber." "Nexus?!" Soul thinks. "What is a Nexus?" Before he can ask the voice, the Deep Fog in front of him splits apart, the impenetrable wall now open for Soul to pass. Soul gazes warily at the opening before taking his first few cautious steps through. "Whoever they are, they clearly are powerful...They'll have much to answer for when I find them." Soul smirks as he walks into the fog, the way out closing behind him.


	2. The Fall

The area around him was in ruins. That was the first thing Soul noticed as he cleared the Fog. A small fortified building was in front of him, its gates smashed in.

"Must be the remains of an military outpost." Soul thinks as he walks towards the broken down gate way. Several dead bodies lie on the ground, scattered and crushed. It is then he is hit with the smell. The smell of rotting flesh and decay. Soul mutters to himself a prayer as he draws his long sword and takes his shield off his back. He moves forward, cautious and alert. The Fog around him remains still as he goes into a corridor. The Fog has moved into the building as well, keeping low to the ground like a thin carpet of smoke. Soul breathes steadily as he moves forward, ready to slay any man or demon who would dare attack him, an Elemental. He didn't have to wait long as the sound of clumsy footsteps is heard and a thin figure walks around the corner.

The man approached Soul, barely wearing any armor at all besides a brown, rotten tunic, and what looks like a hastily assembled helmet made of wood. His equipment was much of the same condition, having a broken sword and a shield that barely qualified as such, merely some timber tied together to offer some protection. A circle is branded into his pale arm, the symbol of one who has been made into a slave by society. The slave moaned and slowly started running at Soul, his broken sword raised. Soul lifted his shield and blocked the swing before stabbing his sword through his assailant's abdomen, twisting it before pushing him away. The mad slave lets out a garbled cry before dying, and the sound of more running feet is heard down the corridor. Soul sighs, feeling a twinge of regret.

"These men are no longer in control of their actions...They aren't even aware of what they're doing." Soul thinks as he swings his blade in the air, blood flying off before charging ahead toward the mad men who wanted his soul for their own.

Two more of the crazed slaves charge at Soul, swinging their weapons wildly. Soul blocks the attacks of one, while slicing upwards at the other one, cutting across the chest, and pushing the other one back to stab him in between the ribs, killing him before finishing the other one with a slash at his neck. Soul runs ahead, going into a large room that at one point was a mess hall. Now the tables and stools are smashed, and the food lies rotting. The door in front of him bursts open and five soldiers rush into the room, their, compared to the slaves, superior armor clanking as they pulled out their short swords and spread out around the room, all of them facing Soul. He raises his shield, warily watching the mad warriors surrounding him. Three of the soldiers charge forward, ready to skewer Soul in their blades. Soul summons fire on his hand and waves it at them, a small stream of fire shooting out, catching the madmen on fire and they scream, trying to put the fire out. The other two soldiers charge at Soul, shields raised. Soul matches their charge, clashing with them, blocking with both his sword and shield , weaving a web of wrought iron with his blade. Soul slips past them, slashing at the back of their legs. The soldiers fall over, hitting the ground with the sounding clash of armor on stone. Mere fodder compared to Soul's skill. More of the mad men run into the room, surrounding Soul, weapons drawn. Soul swings his blade and beckons at them, daring them to attack him. They charge forward ready to skewer him, when a roar shakes the room, sounding like a big cat, but as if something was stuck in its throat. The Soldiers freeze in their tracks and look around, before bolting out the way Soul came in.

Soul looks in the direction of the roar, almost as if he expects what ever made it to appear, ready to cut him down.

"That was no man." Thinks Soul as he cautiously moves toward the large oak doors that the soldiers ran out off. He enters a long corridor, the bodies of fallen soldiers scattered. The end of the corridor has thick Fog at the end of it, like the Fog that surrounded the border of the kingdom. Soul stops, waiting to see if the strange voice will appear again to break the Fog. When nothing happens, he summons fire onto his hands and he presses against it, slowly pushing his way through into what looks like a small courtyard with aged pillars around the edge. But it is not the pillars that keep his attention.

A massive beast sits, turned away from him, growling to itself as it reaches for the crushed body of a warrior, a huge ax at its side with a flat edge to it, clearly made for crushing rather then cutting its victims. The skin of the creature is like that of an elephant, but blacker, and thicker. Two small, compared to the beast, bat like wings are below its shoulders. Spines run down it's back, leading to a stub of a tail. From what he can see of the feet, they remind him of a eagle's talons. The beast brings the body of the man to its head, and a ripping sound is heard. Soul slightly shifts his weight, his armor plating lightly clanking, but that noise is just enough to warn the creature of his presence as it turns, showing massive jagged teeth that don't fit inside its mouth, ram like horns, and three glowing eyes filled with malice. An arm sticks out of a gap between it's teeth and it stares at Soul dumbly, as if it can't comprehend someone approaching it, before it tilts it's head back and snaps, the arm vanishing into the beasts gullet before it stands, dropping the remains of its meal and completely towering over Soul, who barely reaches the beast's knees. The creature is extraordinarily fat, like a nobleman who over taxes his peasants to feed his own gluttony. It picks up its axe, and roars at Soul, Evil energy emanating from the beast. Soul casts aside his shield, knowing that if that ax hits him, shield or not, he would be a dead man, and he was going to need all the speed he could get. Soul summons flame to his right hand, and answers the beast's roar with a battle cry. The demon narrows its eyes and it waddled more so then walked toward him, ready to smash him to a bloody pulp.

The beast roars, swinging its massive axe at Soul. Soul leaps back, feeling the wind from the Ax as it goes by, and sprints the the left, circling the creature. Soul quickly dashes in, slashing at the beasts legs, the wounds looking more like scratches on the massive beast as it slowly turns, growling. The beast lifts its axe high in the air, roaring in anger as it brings it down. Soul once again manages to dodge the blow, rolling across the ground as the shock wave from the hit makes him bounce. Soul tosses a fire ball at the beast, yet it barely seems even affected by the flame. The beast growls, staring down at Soul, seeming more annoyed than anything at the Elemental's attempts to hurt it. The beast swats Soul away with its unarmed hand, sending him flying into a wall with a clash of armor as he falls to the ground. Soul breathes heavily as he struggles to get up.

"D-damnit..." Soul thinks as he gets to his hands and knees. The ground shakes as the massive demon moved toward him. The beast swings and Soul scrambles forward, desperate to get away from the blow. The axe crashes into the wall, embedding in the wall. The demon pulls, trying to get the weapon dislodged. Soul takes his sword and drives it into the demon's leg, twisting as the demon howls. Soul pulls out the sword and sprints away as the demon grabs at him, forgetting about the axe. It chases after him, roaring in anger. Soul knows what he must do now. Soul runs toward the courtyard wall, the beast thundering after him, hungry for his flesh. At the last second, Soul makes a quick turn. The demon being to bulky to move so quickly, rams into the wall. The demon roars in pain, clutching its head. Soul dashes in and leaps, slashing across the stomach before landing and rolling out of the beast's reach. The beast roars, and stomps, shaking the ground. Soul looses his footing and stumbles and the beast grabs his leg, lifting him up to eye level. It roars, spit splattering across Soul's helmet as he tries to get out of the demon's grasp. Soul, in a desperate last attempt to avoid becoming lunch for this beast, extends his hand and shoots a stream of fire at the beast's head. The monster screams, dropping Soul to the ground in a loud clatter of metal as if falls to its knees, covering its face in pain. Soul manages to clamber to his feet, and runs at the beast's back, gripping onto the spines as he climbs up. The demon roars, slowly standing as it tries to shake Soul off. Soul manages to cling on as he gets towards the beasts head, sword clutched tightly as he stabs forward, feeling his blade pierce bone. The demon gurgles, stumbling, before falling to its knees and falling over face first, the body rippling with the impact. Soul pulls, feeling the resistance of the bone before managing to take the blade out without breaking it. Soul climbs off of the dead monster, and turns. The formerly glowing eyes of the monster are dim. Soul looks at his blade, now coated in the beast's black blood, before taking out a piece of cloth and wiping it clean with several swipes. Soul takes several deep breaths. He's well aware of how close he came to dying against this demon.

"I just hope that there isn't anything bigger and tougher then this." Soul mutters to himself as he puts his sword away. He looks back at the dead demon, to see the body growing a bright white before it dissipates into a large ball of light. Soul approaches the ball of light, frowning under his helmet.

Soul knows about the demon's souls that Vallerfax told of when he broke free of the Fog. Each soul has supposedly power beyond human imagination. What is true though, is that many humans are drawn to power, especially power that they should not control. Soul picks up the soul, the ball of light floating a few inches above his hands before opens up his satchel and putting it in, the ball shifting to fit inside it before he closes it.

"Perhaps it could prove useful later on." Soul muses as he walks over to his discarded shield, sliding it onto his back before looking around, trying to figure out where to go next. A sword faintly glowing with power catches his eye. It is embedded into a rock across the courtyard. Soul curiously moves forward.

"Was the demon...guarding this?" Soul wonders as he looks the blade over. Short of the light glow, there is nothing special about this weapon. Soul reaches for the handle and grips it, and his vision goes dim and his surroundings twisting before everything goes black.

Soul gasps, letting go of the handle. Everything around him is different now. He seems to be in the ruins of what was an underground temple, the pillars around him having crumbled long ago, and rock walls surround him. Soul blinks, trying to comprehend what just happened. He looks down at the sword before him, before remembering what Algol told him about the Soul Arts.

"Perhaps they used the Soul Arts to create a transportation system?" Soul wonders. Using magic as transportation for military would grant them a massive advantage if they were attacked by an invading force. Soul walks down some stone steps, shards of ore scattered around. The steps lead to a large flat stone area in front of a steep cliff. Soul looks around, trying to figure out where to go, when a deep rumbling growl echoes throughout the cavern. Soul's hairs stand on end and he draws his weapon, looking around trying to locate this monster. Whatever it was, it sounded much bigger then the demon he just faced. He didn't have to wait long.

A massive scaled hand raises up and slams down,carving massive furrows into the rock, causing the ground to shake and Soul to lose his footing. A second scaled hand slams down, the claws carving more scratches into the rock. A massive dragon like head rises up above Soul.

The dragon's scales are a dull gold, and has a huge crest on top of its head, as if it was a crown. The dragon has six red eyes, three on each side of its head, and a massive jaw, easily large enough to devour three of the last demon in one bite. It glares down at Soul, and roars. Soul clamps his hands over where his ears would be, the roar seeming to cause the very air to vibrate as rocks fall from the ceiling. It's then the evil aura of the dragon reaches Soul.

"No...not a dragon." Soul thinks as he stares up at the dragon in a mix of fear and panic. "A demon." It stares him down, growling, its scaled lips pulled back revealing its massive teeth. Soul stands rooted to the spot, every fiber of his being telling him to run, yet he is frozen in fatal fear. The demon raises its clawed hand, curling it into a fist as it seems to grin down at him. The last thing Soul sees before impact is the massive fist flying at him, and then nothing. But darkness.


End file.
